Composites are increasingly used as replacements for metal components in aerospace applications. Composites offer a variety of advantages over their metal counterparts such as lightweightness, improved strength, and the use of fewer components. Many of these components must be capable of withstanding elevated temperatures of about 200 degrees centigrade (.degree.C.) to about 400.degree. C. (e.g. when they are in close proximity to gas turbine engines). A few high temperature polymers exist, such as PMR-15.TM. polyimide NASA Lewis which is licensed to various companies (Ferro Corporation, U.S. Polymeric, etc.; Culver City, Calif. and Santa Ana, Calif.), HR600.TM. polyimide (National Starch, Bridgewater, N.J.) and NR150B2.TM. polyimide (E. I. DuPont de Nemours, Wilmington, Del.). However, high temperatures of about 300.degree. C. to about 400.degree. C. and high pressures of about 1000 psi to about 5000 psi can be required to process these resins into composites or resin parts. At these high temperatures, the pressure bags that are used in composite autoclave processing can fail.
Accordingly, there has been a constant search in this field of art for high temperature resins and their precursor monomers that can be processed at lower temperatures and pressures.